Last night, with blood smeared on her cheek, Tess finally came
downstairs with her top tooth in hand. I have been eagerly awaiting that gap
toothed grin, since the last one fell out 10 days ago.Tess is a little self conscious of her spacious smirk, but they are
probably my favorite smiles. Three years ago I wrote about the exact same thing
(below)…and it is all still true.

My son has been working on it for weeks. Wiggling, pushing
his tooth back and forth with his tongue sometimes even until it bled. And I
couldn’t have been more ready for it to fall out. His first top tooth fell out
about a week ago, and the lone one left was hanging on by a thread. Pointing
the complete wrong direction. I sent him to school day after day with this
crooked snaggletooth praying it would be gone by the time I picked him up.
Until finally, yesterday he pried it out and came running triumphantly to my
room before 7 am, tiny tooth in hand. On a Saturday. It is hard to fake
excitement before I have had coffee and he has lost enough teeth by now that
the tooth fairy is ready to take on a second job just to keep up. And even
without my contacts in, I could see the Grand Canyon of gaps across the top of
his mouth and I suddenly couldn’tget
enough of his gummy grin.

And I know that soon, this big empty space will be filled
with 2 giant grown up teeth that he will have forever, (hopefully, assuming, he
doesn’t take up hockey any time soon). Little kids with grown up teeth look
different. Always a little bit funny until they grow into them.

The last few days I keep asking him to smile for me, and
occasionally snapping photos. I am in love with these gaps. His grin is for
sure the cutest, but when it comes to my kids there are plenty of places that I
leave room. I buy their shoes just a tad too big, and their pants a little too
long. I know that eventually they will fill them. At some point I
stopped giving myself this luxury. I’ve bought shoes in the exact same size
since about the 8th grade and if anything I buy my pants too small, hoping to
shrink rather than grow. And my heart isn’t quite as stagnant as my shoe size
or as fickle as my waistline, but I’m not quite sure that I have given it much room to grow either.

Those things we all
need more of....

Time. Space. Margin. Rest.

Days on my calendar
without dots on them.Time spent on my
couch rather than to do lists or running around. Money left over at the end of
the month rather than the other way around. This season has seemed especially
busy. I seem to have more work than ever and less time to do it in.God, who is always a bit wiser than I, left a
few gaps. Pried a few things from me because He knew that I would never pull
them on my own.

I was not like my son, triumphant over each loss. Instead I
grieved them. Whined about them. And quickly tried to fill them with anything
or anyone I could find.

But I am starting to see that maybe this space isn’t so bad.
That they are in fact gifts. That growth happens in the gaps. In the spaces
where we leave room for it. Not in plates that are too full or calendars that
are doublebooked or even in pants that are too tight.And although I’d like to keep all my teeth, I
will try to welcome gaps and space as they show up. Understanding, that things
will have to pulled and tugged loose to make room. Space created from loss for
something bigger and better and more permanent to fill.

Now, if I could just
get the tooth fairy to leave me a few bucks under my pillow….

Every year I like to write the kind of letter that people used
to send with Christmas cards but with a few important caveats. First, I do not
have it together enough this year for Christmas cards or even pictures of my
kids both smiling and with their hair brushed. Second, those old school Christmas letters are
mostly crap – so I started writing REAL Christmas letters about seven years as
ago as a joke, in response to all the fake and cheesy ones people send out
about how perfect their lives appear on paper. A friend and I laughed about how
refreshing it would be if people wrote real Christmas letters. Confessed to
filing for bankruptcy or bragged about their kid’s straight C report card. What if those letters were a place where they
shared the highs, but didn't ignore the lows. It would be way more honest and a
whole lot more entertaining. Most people don't write Christmas letters any
more. These days we do not save our perfect lives for yearly updates; we post
them in our Facebook status and on Instagram 365 days a year. I am just as
guilty. I post pictures of all the fun places I go and eat, not all the nights
I am in pjs before the evening news. So now every year I try to rewind, reflect
and share the highs and a few honest moments as well. So here it is - my year
in review.I have learned a lot of
things this year, but brevity was not one of them….so settle in.

This year is harder for me to reflect back on than others because
it has been rough and at least a few months of it are a complete and total blur
or pain pills, hospital bills and Netflix.Usually I find myself in this time of year writing about cool places I
have gone, races I have run and what my kids have learned.This year I haven’t gone to many places, I
haven’t need to buy new running shoes all year and I am pretty sure I have
learned more than my kids. Usually when I reflect, I feel like everything is
the same. Same job, same house, same pant size…it is only my kids that seem to
grow. This year has been nothing but change. Since this time last year I have
gone back to school, I have changed my address and added some hardware to my
skull. Currently no new tattoos – but there are still a few days left in the
year.

Shaun has taught my kids to ski and they have totally caught
the bug. Owen zips down the mountain with young 10 year old legs that don’t
ache that put mine to shame.He loves
the ocean like me, but he is still Shaun’s carbon copy and pouted all the way
home from the mountains this year pausing only to argue over Pokemon cards with
his sister. Owen has moved up from elementary school to intermediate school
complete with lockers, lock-ins and dances. He is still completely oblivious to
girls and never uses the deodorant I bought him.He knows way more science than me, but cannot
remember to turn in his homework. Shaun
coached his soccer team again. Owen managed to score a few goals and Shaun
managed to not get a red card this season. He is outgrowing all kinds of
things, like finally some of his jeans but also kids meals and the tooth fairy.
He is only 10 but can sleep late and disappear into his room for hours at a
time venturing out only for food. I love the extra sleep and my new ability to
go to Target alone….but sometimes miss the little kid that left Legos all over
the floor. (I take that back--- he still leaves Legos all over the floor!)

Tess has lost a handful of teeth and some of her girly-ness but
none of her sass. She still loves a fancy new dress, lip gloss and doesn’t
think there is such a thing as too many Barbies, but she has also into Star
Wars, Minecraft and overalls.She is a
“maker” and wants to create things all the time. Out of little blocks on my
phone, or cookies, or Legos or anything made from pipe cleaners and glitter.
She will not however make her bed.Tess
doesn’t love school as much this year unless they are doing crafty things or
serving chicken nuggets in the cafeteria that day because she also almost never
remembers to “make” her lunch…..which is just as well because last time she
made her own lunch it involved 3 bags of chips and some Oreo cookies.Her hair is usually going in all kinds of
directions and her socks are always mismatched, this however does not seem to
deter her because on the way home from school recently she told me that a boy
kissed her on the playground. On an unrelated note, I think Owen is going to
start karate soon.

Shaun has been busy, running, traveling and picking up my slack
(and counting down the days until the new Star Wars came out).The rest of his time he spends in his garage.
I love the fact that our new home has an actual pantry and that the yard takes
so much less time to mow (ok, for Shaun and Owen to mow). Shaun loves that he
has his own garage. To make things in. I guess he is a “maker” too, like
Tess.Sometimes he even makes dinner.
With my surgery and school, Shaun has had to step up and help out in all kinds
of ways that I am so grateful for.

Moving was a little traumatic for me. Leaving behind the place
that I brought home my babies from the hospital to. The first place where we
built a home and drew sharpie lines on the doorframes.We packed it up and emptied it out. I have
been to the old house a few times (because I forgot to change my address on Zulily
and they keep getting my packages).They
have replaced all the floors, painted all the walls, wiped out the flowerbeds
and scraped the popcorn off the ceiling. It looks amazing but feels empty to me.Which is ok because it took us no time to
fill our new sink with dirty dishes, fill up the junk drawers, the clothes
hamper with laundry to wash and most of all fill this new address with laughter,
leftovers and dog hair.There are still
a few boxes to unpack, but this new place quickly went from our new house to
our new home.

School has always been easy for me. Unless
we are talking about waking up for 8 am classes, Calculus or these days
remembering to take attendance. I started school, as a student, again last
January after a decade, 2 dogs, 2 houses and 2 kids later.And aside from lots of coffee, the experience
couldn’t have been more different from my last two degrees. I’ve been know to
say, only half joking, that I am getting a doctorate in humility. My degree
plan is in curriculum and instruction and I have learned a few things about
that. But mostly I have learned all kinds of other things I did not anticipate.
It only took me one week in to realize I was not going to be learning what I
thought. I was so eager for someone to teach me everything I wanted to know
about education. I wanted help finding internships and mentors and guide me
through my own research. Instead I quickly learned how much I didn’t know and
how little someone else was going to do for me. My first semester I learned
more life lessons than academic ones. I learned a little about how to budget my
time, how to ask and how hard it is to use punctuation properly. The last year
has really taught me to budget and use my time more wisely - to make
checklists, set timers and always keep a book or article in the car. I am a
procrastinator and an extrovert. I hate to say no to something fun or miss out
on an opportunity. I say yes even when I have stacks of papers to grade or
laundry to hang. Those quizzes can wait. Laundry can stay in the basket, but I
doubt my professors will understand that there was a concert I wanted to go to,
that my kids wanted to go swimming or there was a Gilmore Girls marathon on TV.
I still get to say yes occasionally but I had to be a whole lot more selective.
No is a struggle for me, but I have tried to recognize that every yes I say is
a no for something else. I am like the weight watchers of fun these days…saving
up my bonus points for the people and things that I love most (and naps). I am
learning that I can’t go to every birthday party, happy hour, concert or movie
and that I should use my yeses for things like my kids soccer games, queso and
not wait until the last minute to read 80 pages of journal articles. These days
I waste a lot more time with people and things that I love rather than just
things I like.

I
usually pride myself on being able to do things myself or figure things out (or
asking Shaun to do them) but becoming a student has given me far more questions
than answers. I am constantly asking all kinds of things to all kinds of
people. I have sought out some of the best leaders and smartest people around
me. I have taken notes. Sometimes I have listened more than I have talked (this
is a small miracle for me). I have caught myself saying, “I read and article
that said”…..about a million times to many to people who probably could care
less and others who should care but don’t. Regardless I have asked, for help,
for direction, for information, for whatever insight they can give me.Not every one is thrilled with my ideas or
questions. One meeting actually left me in tears. Most people, however, like to
talk about what they are good at or experts in if I will just shut up long
enough to let them, whether we are talking about school, cooking or Gilmore
Girls.

In many ways I am so ready to be rid of
2015.The year has been expensive a
struggle and not my most fun. I ran no big races. I did not go to DisneyWorld.
Most of my pants no longer fit.Someone
recently plowed into Shaun’s car and he will probably be driving a rental all
the way into 2016. Balancing school, work and my shrinking social life only
gets more complicated while on bed rest or in pain. I have spent so much time
thinking and writing about pain this last year that I can’t bear to give it
more than a few lines here. I am so eager for a new theme, but it has taught me
about hope, gratitude, anger and doubt. To be still and to wrestle. I am tired.
Some days are easy, but some are still really hard. All I know is if I can
write a paper while taking heavy narcotics and still make an A then I can do a
hell of a lot more than I think I can.

This year has left me broke, tired,
hurting and out of shape.

But. I. Have. Never. Been. So. Loved.

By professors that give me As on terrible
papers.

By my friends and family that brought me
meals or unpacked boxes.

By my husband that hangs up the laundry
and does the dishes.

By my God that lets me wrestle.

So I am glad for my year. Tess’s lost
teeth, Owen’s lost homework, our new home and the hard and beautiful lessons I
have learned. In 2016 I hope for better, but I am still so very grateful for
right now.

I am at church. It has been awhile. The last time I was here I left in the middle. I said I was running an errand but more likely I was running away. Suddenly we sing a song. Oceans.

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me

You've never failed and You won't start now

Standing and trusting.

My damn chin starts to quiver. I try to hide behind my coffee cup and wipe away the few tears that slip out anyways. I love this song, but I can not sing it this morning. I am so mad at myself for not being able to do this. For being angry. For feeling sorry for myself. The sermon is on how heavy our burden is and how focusing on the right things will lift them off. He tells us to imagine a heavy weight on us, and then suddenly it being lifted.

I think this is bullshit.

I do not have to imagine a heavy weight. It is there. It is back. It has slammed me into the ground again. I am afraid to imagine it being lifted because the memory of the lightness is too hard. Making the weight only seems heavier.

I am angry by the cheapness of his words. How easy he makes it sound. And that again, I must not be doing or saying or believing the right things. In this moment I can promise that I am not. I feel like maybe my faith has been cheap and shallow if it is this easily rattled.

I tell a few people how I feel. The pain that is back and with it the emptiness that hope seems to have left behind in its flight. The neurologist gets me in that day (this is a small miracle). He says he is so sorry. He increases my dosage and tells me to come back in a few months. I go home emptied out. Drained of hope and trying to formulate some idea of what to do and mostly only come up with things not to do. A friend asks me how Jesus are in this season. I am honest. If Jesus was my friend onFacebook, I think I might have unfriended him. Or at least hidden him for a little while. It is not that I don’t know that he is good and true. I do. I just don’t feel it in this moment. If this is his plan then it is a shitty plan. Again, I feel like this is so whiny. That I am not dying. My family is amazing. I take a page from Ann Voskamp and start listing the good. I look for beautiful around me. I find it and I snap pictures of the moon and write lists of the things I am glad for. I keep another running list in my head of all the things that could be worse.Thankfullness and perspective are not always the magical cures we want them to be. I tell my friend that I have given up caffeine and alcohol and running and am seeing a counselor. In her effort to be kind she tells me that maybe I should stop using so much energy to do things or fix things but to use some of it to trust.

I want to throw my phone and do not even know how to respond.

How do I trust someone who lets you hurt so badly.

Because when I am honest,

I do not trust.

It is why I don’t want to go to church or sing the songs or face the absence of hope.

Prayer like everything these days comes hard.

I read about big wild prayers.

and think that maybe I should be praying wilder. Or more often. Or more faithfully. Or fasting. Or shit.... more of anything that will get me a response. My prayers feel empty and repetitive and selfish but most days I mumble them anyways seeded with doubt.

I have not gone to God last.

I have prayed wildly and nakedly and broken.

I have asked to be healed. for relief. for comfort.

I have asked to be able to trust again.

I keep asking.

Hope I suppose keeps asking even when she doesn’t trust the answers or sing out loud.

Decemberish - Advent

The Church year has its own seasons: advent, Christmas, ordinary time, lent and Easter. Most of the year is just called ordinary time. The past season of ordinary was hard, but thankfully brief. It is likely to come back around. And pass again, but for now it is Advent. My December days are busy with ordinary things but they are still counted differently. I am not very liturgical. My church attendance is questionable, but I have always been drawn to the formal seasons. I am glad to mark my days by something other than papers to grade, pills to take and laundry to hang.

I read recently that Advent is about the longing and the waiting.

“Advent simply means “coming” – so for me, it is about the waiting. When people talk about “living in the tension” I think of Advent. It’s the time when we prepare to celebrate his birth and we also acknowledge that we are waiting here still for every tear to be wiped away. I think of the waiting for the Christ child, yes, and I think of the still-waiting for all things to be made right, for our longing for Shalom. Would we be so filled with joy at his arrival if we weren’t so filled with longing already? If Christmas is for the joy, then Advent is for the longing.” (Sarah Bessey)

Recently i have started to understand the waiting.

I thought I knew.

Waiting in lines so deep at Target they are wrapped around the cosmetic counter.

Waiting for the bell.

Waiting for acceptance letters to come.

But I didn’t know.

Waiting and longing for what you know will happen doesn’t seem to count. That is just marking time. Waiting when you don’t know. When you aren’t sure. Hoping when there is nothing else to do. Those are lessons I have learned the hard way.

Weeks ago I was desperate and empty.

Now I feel less of that.

More hopeful. More peaceful. Making my way towards joyful.

I wasn’t sure where trust fit into all this until today when I read Sarah Bessey’s post on week three which isjoy:

“So I didn’t learn to practice joy until I learned to practice grief, and I didn’t learn how to do either one of those things well until I learned that God can be trusted.”

Trusted to show up to a tired and scared to teenage girl over 2000 years ago.

Trusted to show up to a tired and scared mother today.

Every night during this season in my house we light a candle and let just a little of it burn down. The days are marked. The wax melts.

The candle burns down and some of the edges and the pain and the hard seems to melt down as well.

other distractions....the good kind

About Me

just a girl trying to pursue this writing thing a little more seriously. i like to ramble. I usually, but not always make a point. and I'm not one to proofread or spell things correctly. i am a human buffet. i have a varied spread of talents ( teaching, crafting, running, soccer, writing, cooking) etc. but none of them are very good. so enjoy the variety and try not to look too close.